Directed by Susanna Edwards • Documentary • 2025 • 90 minutes
Anti-vaccine demonstrators. Extinction rebellion activists blocking a downtown intersection. Opposing factions yelling at each other outside a Stockholm courthouse. An anti-Muslim neo-fascist agitator.
In Sweden, all these people have a right to freedom of expression — and the dialogue police are there to protect that right. Their unit was created in the wake of 2001 anti-E.U. protests in Gothenburg. Police shot three protesters, and Swedes were shocked by the violence. The result was the creation of a unit meant to manage relationships with demonstrators to prevent violence (rather than reacting to it) and to de-escalate effectively, when necessary.
THE DIALOGUE POLICE is a vérité-style documentary that follows the unit closely, as they mediate between protesters, the public, and even their own colleagues. As Sweden exports this model to other countries, this offers an insider’s look at an alternative approach to policing protest.
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